"Yes, Alice. Join our little group!"

...

"No." I replied flatly. "HELL. Fucking. No."

The elf man blinked, then laughed softly,

"Oh come on! Don't be so stubborn. You were quite eager a month ago."

I raised my head to look him in the eyes, "I'll be dead weight if I do, you fashion eyesore," I continued, turning to Lori, "Look, I'll fess up."

She looked at me seriously and expectingly.

I took a deep breath, "After the incident in Rivershire, I haven't been able to use any high level magic. Any. Magic, in fact."

Technically true.

Lori's eyes widened, and she frowned, "Alice wait, that's..."

"I said it was complicated on the road," I insisted. "Truth is, it's...like all the spell formulae were wiped from my mind. My large mana reserves are still there, which is why I started practicing Mana Bolt. Who knows, I may have gotten cursed for all I know."

Technically true, also.

Lori turned pale, staring at me in horror, "Oh gods. That's...I can't imagine how..."

That had very different connotations for Alice's sister than it did for me. The magic would have been Alice's one calling card and her pride and joy in life.

"Yeah," I agreed quietly. "You heard me. That's the truth."

The elf sighed heavily, shaking his head, "I knew it was too good to be true. A teenaged human on the cusp of attaining an Archmage title."

"You're really not helping right now," I said crossly, folding my arms. "Not one bit."

"I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. "But we do need your help, Alice."

"I don't want to join your stupid gang," I growled.

The elf bristled, staring down at me. "Gang? Listen here, we are esteemed heroes of the land, not some common thugs."

Lori stepped between us protectively, "Alice, calm down-"

I waved her off angrily, stepping away.

I snarled and couldn't help but ooze malice as I glared at her. Everything had sucked. Really sucked, since I'd woken up here. Lori dragged me off to get roughed up by bandits and put me in high-pressure situations one time after another.

And I just took it.

All that pent-up frustration I felt toward Lori boiled over in an instant. She had the gall to give me shit for my magic after putting me through all that.

"You know what? Fuck you, Lori. Fuck you for putting me through the grinder over the last couple of days. I hate you! I hate your fucking antics, and all the fucking danger you've been dropping on my head. Constantly."

"Alice!" Lori yelled, shocked.

"And fuck you too, old man!" I spat at the elf. "You think you can just waltz in here and recruit me while I'm under duress? You're an asshole."

"Alice, I know you're upset and frightened right now," the elf began slowly. "But please hear me out before you make a decision."

"No!" I shouted. "No more! Fuck this shit!"

I turned around and ran down the street, only to see another one of the demon-beast things standing there. It roared with an otherworldly intensity as it lunged toward me.

"Alice!" Lori called out behind me.

I spun around and saw her running down the street as well. She pulled something small and white from her pocket and threw it at the beast. A ball of light exploded into existence, enveloping the creature in a bright glow. It let out a high-pitched squeal before dissolving into particles of light.

"Please!" Lori called again, catching up with me.

I glared at her, and she gave me a sad, conflicted smile.

"Sis," she repeated softly. "Please..."

I took a deep breath and shook my head.

"No. Fuck off."

She looked like she wanted to say something else but didn't get a chance. The air suddenly grew thick and heavy, and my vision blurred. I could hardly breathe. I dropped to my knees, gasping and choking for breath. There was an oppressive feeling in the air. Like, someone wanted me to die. Someone with a vendetta.

"What...the hell?" I muttered, looking up at Lori in confusion.

Her eyes narrowed, and she began to sweep her eyes across the street again. She stopped when she noticed something in the distance. I followed her gaze and spotted several black shapes moving closer to us. They were three large, vaguely humanoid creatures with long arms that ended in claws. Their skin was dark greyish-black, and they had glowing red eyes. A man in black robes was at the forefront, waving his hands in a strange pattern. He wore a heart-shaped red mask, obscuring his face.

"What's that?" I asked Lori nervously.

Lori took a combat stance, staring at him thoughtfully. "Some sort of ritual magic. He's pouring a ridiculous amount of mana into it."

"Ritual magic?" I echoed uncertainly.

"That's what I said," she replied impatiently.

"I'm not sure I want to find out," I murmured uneasily.

"Probably not." Lori deadpanned.

The mage raised his hand and pointed it toward us. There was a flash of blue light, and the ground beneath our feet began to shake violently. Several cracks appeared along the road, and we both fell back onto the pavement as the earth split apart. The two halves of the street cracked further and began to crumble away. We scrambled backward to avoid falling into the yawning chasm below us.

"Fuck!" I screamed angrily.

I stared down into the crevice as it widened and then swallowed hard when I realized how far down it went. It seemed to go on forever until I finally reached a point where I couldn't see the bottom anymore.

"Oh gods," I whispered hoarsely.

Suddenly, a plane of pure light popped into existence beneath us. I looked up, only to see a...tall bird-man in blue priest's robes holding his hands in prayer, approaching us from the side. His eyes were closed, and he was muttering something under his breath and holding on to some necklace.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"What's happening?" I asked Lori frantically.

"Dodgson!" she answered with a smile. "Glad you could make it!"

The avian opened his eyes and smiled a giant bird smile at us. "I am glad you are alright, Miss Liddell."

One by one, the members of her adventuring party ran up beside us, staring down the masked mage and the three humanoid shadow monsters surrounding him. Dinah - the catgirl with a bow, the elf with the orange hair and tophat, the avian cleric, the rabbit man I assumed was some kind of trickster, the shape-shifting woman.

I was still furious at her, but Lori and I huddled together almost out of instinct as the creatures approached us.

"Are you okay?" Lori asked me worriedly.

I nodded slowly, still staring at the hole in the ground. "I think so."

"Good." She sighed in relief. "Look sis...let's have a heart to heart after. Please. I...I honestly just want to keep you safe. And our family safe too."

I gave her a flat look, "You know what? No."

"Alice..." she asked quietly.

"Because," I said coldly, "I don't care about your stupid gang. If you can't keep me safe without it, then fuck off. If you want me to be safe, you've had one hell of a funny way of showing it."

The creature looked like a mix between a snake, a bat, and a humanoid body with glowing red eyes. Its mouth opened wide, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth dripped with black ichor. The largely muscular yet serpentine humanoid body was covered in shimmering scales. Its head was largely bat-shaped, with two gigantic bat wings that spurted out from its back.

It was horrific, like a monster out of my worst nightmares and night terrors. Its mouth was surrounded by over a dozen claws that clicked, chittered, and gnashed as their tendrils swayed in the unnatural mist surrounding us.

The worst part about it? It looked distinctly off from the art style of this world. Like, we were all cel-shaded 2.5-dimensional anime characters out here, but this thing was shimmering with a distinct, distorted, uncanny valley shimmering CGI. It twisted and cracked, and then it turned to face us. I felt my stomach churn as it shifted and chittered in an eerie slithering motion.

I took another step back, stricken by sheer terror.

No, no, no. Fuck this!

"We need to stop him!" Lori yelled suddenly. "Now! We can't let him summon another greater hellspawn."

"Lori! Take point!" the elf with the tophat shouted, tossing a potion into the air.

"You got it, Chief!" She surged forth, and it looked like she was teleporting toward the mage with every step. Lori caught the potion in midair and hurled it toward the crowd of monsters. It exploded in midair, causing some liquid to shower down on the demons below.

A cloud of white smoke began to fill the street. The elf clicked a button on his belt, and suddenly we could see the monsters perfectly through the smoke.

"Moving to flank!" Dinah shouted immediately. She jumped to a nearby rooftop.

The avian priest rushed forward next to us, "Following up!" he declared eagerly.

He closed his eyes and began to chant something rapidly under his breath. His hands started to glow bright blue, and he was muttering faster than I could follow.

Dinah jumped down from her perch and charged across the gap below. A pair of claws lashed out at her from above, but she pulled up at the last second and slammed right through the beast's head. There was a loud crackle as electricity arced along her arms for several seconds before fading away completely. She landed lightly on a rooftop, smiling confidently.

The rabbit man, silently observing everything, burst out in laughter before disappearing in a pop through the chaos.

The serpentine creature reached behind it to draw a dagger which it threw straight at the catgirl on the roof and jumped at her. Dinah sidestepped quickly enough and weaved into an agile butterfly kick as it closed the gap in an instant. Faster than I could blink, it slashed at Dinah as she bobbed and weaved, trying to avoid its claws desperately.

The avian raised his hands, and a dome popped up around Dinah as the creature swiped at her, causing it to recoil against a glancing hit. She regained her stance instantly and fired three arrows back through the dome. The snake-bat demon shrieked, and Dinah jumped into it with a double kick with her steel boots. It twisted backward over it as it fell to the ground. Her boots connected with the bat-winged monster's chest, sending it skidding across the pavement until it came to rest against a building with a loud crash. It flailed uselessly around on all fours for a few moments and then jumped to its feet to face us once again.

Its eyes burned brighter red than ever before.

Lori charged through the smoke forward towards the primary target, leaping into the air without any warning. She slammed her legs into the mage with her sword raised high above her head. The masked mage was thrown back through the air, where he crashed into a nearby building, followed closely by Lori and the shapeshifter, who had turned into a wolf again. The three horrifying, humanlike creatures moved to flank Lori and the shapeshifter as they charged in over the plane of hard light.

"Focus the mage first!" the elf yelled, rushing in front of me with an intricate-looking crossbow drawn. "Dinah! Support Lori! Dodgson, with us! Defensive posturing!"

My heart was pounding wildly now. I felt like my entire body would collapse and sink down helplessly to my knees, trembling if I didn't compose myself. I breathed hard, hyperventilating. I was getting more used to these situations than I'd have liked, but I still didn't feel entirely comfortable being surrounded by monsters right out of my nightmares. I clutched my staff with bone-white knuckles as I braced myself for whatever would come next.

I turned over to look for a moment at the brawl between the masked mage and the creatures with the slender limbs on one and the shapeshifting woman. Lori blinked around the battlefield a few times, dodging blows as the woman shifted from her wolf form back to a humanoid. She waved her hands, and roots burst from the ground, capturing all three creatures at once. The rabbit man suddenly appeared behind one of them, stabbing a pair of daggers through its heart and throat.

In my single split second of distraction, I created an opening for the monster.

"Child! Get behind me!" Dodgson called to me urgently, his hand extended toward me, palm up and glowing.

The demon screeched loudly and rushed forward faster than any of us could react. I stepped back, eyes widening in terror.

The elf man fired his crossbow rapidly, filling its body with six bolts, but it wasn't enough to stop its momentum.

Dodgson threw up a barrier, but the creature smashed directly through it this time. It swung its limbs, slicing the elf man across the stomach and throwing him into a wall. I screamed, scrambling to cast a mana bolt, but my mind blanked from the sheer terror at the unnatural, otherworldly creature, and the spell fizzled in my hand.

I could only stare at it in horror as its claws reached for my face while its teeth latched onto my neck simultaneously. I jerked back out of instinct, but the creature was too agile, and the blinding pain hit me immediately.

It pulled its head back as it ripped open my throat.

The blood began flowing freely from my wound, and my vision started to go dark around the edges as I gurgled and struggled desperately not to pass out and, well, die. I flailed, stumbling around as blood began spitting from my torn neck.

It hurt so much, worse than anything I had ever experienced. I had broken my leg before in my old life and had some nasty cooking accidents. Nothing compared to this. The creature's horrible gnashing teeth chittered victoriously as it reared itself back onto its legs. The image of the horrific, disjointed, unnatural CGI movements etched itself into my rapidly-fading mind. I could dimly make out Lori stopping her assault on the mage's head to turn to me.

She dropped her sword in shock as the world began to blur and fade away from me, and I saw her slowly shamble in my direction in shock.

I staggered, struggling with all the willpower I had to stay conscious.

So, this is it... I didn't even have a chance to react.

Heh...

"and I beseech thee, Mother of all life, all that is sacred. Lay thine hands of soothing on this childe."

A white light washed over me as the avian priest muttered something under his breath. The wound on my throat closed in a snap, and I felt fatigued, like I'd just rolled out of bed. My throat burned with phantom pain, and I could still feel the creature's razor-sharp jaws on my bare throat.

My vision instantly refocused, and I reflexively drew the symbols for Mana Bolt in my head. Adrenaline pumped while I sloppily poured everything I had into the crystal of my staff.

My heart was racing like never before when I felt something in my mind stir—a memory. I pushed harder, trying to get closer to a feeling my soul remembered. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl.

The sensation grew more potent, and I suddenly recalled the time I'd met Lori. In the Liddell estate within this very town. I had been constantly annoyed but, at some level, amused by her antics. Why did I think about that?

I focused on my magic core and began to channel energy into it rapidly.

I suddenly felt very alone, so alone that I wanted nothing more than to run away and hide somewhere safe where nobody could hurt me...but here I am.

I snapped back to reality as the power swelled inside of me uncontrollably, and a ball of blue light exploded from my staff as a large Mana Bolt formed and shot forth point blank, slamming directly into the creature in front of me. I had pumped everything I had in the tank into this one.

The monster screeched loudly again and was launched into the air by the blue ball. The blue ball rapidly expanded as the creature was lifted higher and higher into the air in an erratic, oscillating pattern.

The ball grew larger and larger until it was the size of a multi-story apartment building, and the creature was launched over two hundred meters into the sky before my mana bolt exploded. A blinding flash of light caused everyone to flinch instinctively as an explosion filled the sky, and a pressure wave rippled out from it.

I barely stood upright against the blast as I shielded my eyes with my arm. I heard someone let out an angry yell behind me while another person yelled for us to fall back and regroup. My vision began to blur as my eardrums pounded, and I could hear a wail that registered to me as despair.

My vision started to clear up, but I saw double for several seconds until finally...

I fell over.

My vision blurred again, and then everything went dark.